Detained UK sailors will be prosecuted by Iranians, reports claim

The eight Royal Navy personnel who were arrested yesterday after apparently straying into Iranian waters will be prosecuted, it has been reported today.

The Iranian broadcaster, Al Alam, has reported that the Navy personnel strayed around 1,000 metres across the "marine border" when they were detained by a Revolutionary Guards patrol.

The eight men are being interrogated by authorities at an as yet undisclosed location. Last night, Al Alam broadcast pictures of the men sitting silently together in a room. They appeared to be unharmed.

The Foreign Office has demanded to see the eight men but so far consular access has been denied.

The MoD confirmed today that eight men belonged to the Royal Navy Training Team (RNTT), based in southern Iraq, and were in the process of delivering a boat from Umm Qasr to Basrah when they were arrested.

The men were travelling in two Boston Whalers – a type of small motorboat – and one British Army combat support boat along the Shatt al Arab waterway yesterday. The boats were unarmed but the crews were carrying their personal weapons, the MoD said.

The RNTT was set up in July 2003 as a six-man team to assist in the formation of the Basra River Police. Today the team stands at 31 Royal Navy and Royal Marines and operates throughout Basra Province along 380km of internal waterways, mentoring the Iraqi Riverine Patrol Service.

In addition to training, the RNTT conducts "front line operations" to counter various types of smuggling as well as "continuing the campaign against terrorism".

(gmcg)